Jodie Cooper, 42, was bitten on the left hand by a 5-foot shark while surfing at South Golden Beach, New South Wales, Australia on Tuesday 20 March 2007.
Cooper, a former number 2 on the pro surfing circuit, suffered lacerations and bone-deep cuts to her hand.
She told media about the attack: “I just went 'okay, I'm being attacked by a shark'."
She had just finished riding a wave and was paddling back to catch another one when the shark latched onto her left hand.
“It just came up from underneath me and just bit me - just like in the movies, it's pretty classic, except lucky it was small shark, a little five-foot thing," Cooper said.
“I didn't even see the thing the whole time, it just gave me a good old chomp on the hand and took a couple of knuckles."
“I'm not saying I'm this heroic bloody thing, I was shitting my pants, you know.
“It's one of those things in all honesty that we can laugh about now and I'm just laughing about it,” she said.
"It's just like I've been bitten by a big dog, just down to the bone on two knuckles, and then about 10 teeth lacerations up my hand," Cooper said.
"There doesn't appear to be any ligament damage ... and I can sort of wiggle my hand."
I'll give it a couple of days and then I'll go surfing for sure."
Sources:
Sydney Morning Herald
